The Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) Q2 2020 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Q2 revenue from services rose 17% YoY to NIS 73.547M, driven mainly by higher trading volumes amid the coronavirus outbreak.

• Adjusted EBITDA increased 26% to NIS 20.977M; adjusted net profit rose 89% to NIS 10.4M.

• H1 revenue from services grew 21% to NIS 154.8M; net profit increased 156% to NIS 20.3M.

Financial highlights

• Q2 net profit was NIS 10.030M versus NIS 2.506M; profit before financing income, net, was NIS 9.639M versus NIS 1.959M.

• Q2 expenses rose 5% to NIS 63.908M; diluted EPS was NIS 0.097 versus NIS 0.025, and basic EPS was NIS 0.100.

• H1 adjusted EBITDA was NIS 49.9M, up 62%; adjusted net profit was NIS 21.0M, up 93%.

• H1 financing shifted to a NIS 0.9M expense from NIS 6.3M income YoY, mainly reflecting negative yields versus positive yields in H1 2019.

Outlook and guidance

• Marketing campaigns cost NIS 2.7M in Q2; similar-scale marketing and service-distribution efforts were planned for H2 2020.

• A central blockchain securities-lending pool passed a test run, with launch intended for November 2020; API-based data-product sales were also in preparation.

• A private-partnership listing and clearing service was in preparation, but launch was not expected in 2020; testing had not been scheduled.

• Employee payments under the July special agreement were expected to cause negative operating cash flow in Q3 2020, without an earnings impact given provisions already recorded.